GREZILLAC (33) 30.03.2018

Around 22:00 on Friday 30 March 2018, a witness, T1, stepped outside his house in Grézillac (33) and saw a reddish light move across the sky and disappear. He then saw 2 similar lights and photographed them with his phone. One began turning towards him, prompting him to go indoors. He came out again with his partner, T2, and together they observed up to 7 lights moving silently through the night sky. Only their 2 accounts were collected. One witness challenged GEIPAN's initial explanation, but GEIPAN considered sky lanterns probable. The colour, succession of lights one behind another, weekend-night timing and movement with the measured southeast-to-northwest wind all supported this; see the attached wind record. T1's main objection was that one UAP turned towards him before resuming its normal course. GEIPAN offered 2 reasons this did not rule out lanterns. It could have been a perceptual interpretation: the lights were at moderate angular elevation, far from overhead, and a lantern brightening can be interpreted as approaching horizontally, just as dimming can appear to be recession. Alternatively, a broadly consistent wind can have local disturbances caused by woods, buildings or a river, creating a curved stream of air. A separate lantern or a whole line of lanterns could follow that flow. GEIPAN classified the case B: probable sightings of sky lanterns.